


It Can Wait

by maximumsuckage



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Episode: s13e18 Bring 'em Back Alive, Fix-It, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-25 07:00:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14373402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maximumsuckage/pseuds/maximumsuckage
Summary: Everything's coming too quickly, and Gabriel needs a moment,Alt summary: How the heck Sam shoulda responded at the end of the episode instead of scaring Gabe away





	It Can Wait

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the prompt by @nathyfaith: a fix-it of the latest episode, sabriel style. 
> 
> Hope you like it babe <3

“Whoa- too much information.  Okay… slow down… I'm not processing.”  Gabriel pressed his fingers into his temples.  The world was spinning around him; words were coming from all angles; he didn’t know what he’d walked into, but it was too much, too fast, and he needed to breathe-

But Castiel wasn’t backing down.  “And there's more.  Michael wants to come to this Earth and destroy it, and we may need your help to fight him.”

“What?”  He peered at Castiel, trying to think beyond the grace jittering under his skin. 

“Yeah. Welcome to the team.”

He jumped up, heart pounding.  “Uh yeah… not so much.  I mean, thank you for the rescue and for the redemption arc.  But- uh, I'm not really a team guy… sooo… I'm gonna bounce, okay? Um- but, you know, it's been, um… What's the opposite of fun? _That_.”  He stepped towards the door, hunching his shoulders against the blow he instinctively knew would come with disobedience-

“Yeah.  Okay.”

Wait- he froze and glanced over his shoulder, eyes big as he regarded Sam. 

Castiel’s eyes narrowed and he glanced towards the hunter.  “Sam, we need-”

“ _I know_ we need him,” Sam said, and Gabriel flinched back at the tone, despite himself.  “But he’s not going to help us if he doesn’t want to.  We’ll find another way.  Gabriel- I don’t know how Asmodeus got in, but we are going to find which ward is missing and fix it so it’s safe.  You’re welcome to stay here.”

He swallowed, eyes flicking between Sam and Castiel.  “I’m _not_ … I mean, um… I’m not fighting Bizarro-Mike.  Okay?  No way.”  He hesitated again, pressing his lips into a thin line, not sure if he was pleading for permission or stating his stance.  “I’m _not_.  Don’t… please, I mean... don’t make me.”

“We won’t make you,” Sam said.  He stepped forward, raising a hand-

Gabriel flinched, sliding back a step from Sam, and the hunter winced in turn, moving both hands so they were easily visible- and Gabriel hated that Sam was treating him like a wounded animal- hated that he felt like a wounded animal-

“We won’t make you,” Sam repeated.  “It’s okay, Gabriel.  We won’t ask you to do anything you don’t want to do.  Okay?”

Gabriel hesitated, wondering if he didn’t know what to say, or if the words were just stuck in his throat.  How could he destroy a demon in one moment and then freeze in front of Sam the next?  This wasn’t him- he was never this pathetic-

“It’s okay, Gabriel,” Sam repeated, and this time he stepped back, hands still held up.  “Listen- you wanna go back to your room?  I can grab you something to eat-”

His room- tainted, poison, demonic hands grabbing him-

“Hey, easy, hey, it’s okay.”  Sam’s voice was there, a steady mantra in the background.

Gabriel grit his teeth, dirty fingernails digging into his forearms as he hugged himself.  “I’m _fine-_ ” he all but snarled, and he couldn’t even meet Sam’s eyes, couldn’t bear the disgust and disappointment and hate that everybody threw at him-

Sam set a hand on his shoulder, a solid hand, firm but gentle, and Gabriel hated that he flinched at the touch, hated even more that he was leaning into it, desperately trying to grab that single breadcrumb of kindness before it would be ripped away again-

He took a shuddering breath, unclenching his fingers from his own skin, only to reach out and twist them in Sam’s shirt.  “I can’t fight,” he whispered, eyes drifting down to the floor, to his bare feet next to Sam’s boots.  Flannel was soft under his fingers, fabric twisting in his fists.  “I _can’t_ fight, I can’t, Sam-” His voice broke and he fell silent, frozen, still holding the man.

“You don’t have to,” Sam murmured, and, very slowly, moved an arm around Gabriel’s shoulders, pulling the archangel closer.  Gabriel didn’t resist the movement, melting into it instead, boneless as a cat. It was the first soft touch in ages, and Gabriel craved it, letting his forehead drop to Sam’s chest.  He didn’t care that he still wore torture-stained rags, or that Sam was tense with other worries, or even that they _would_ have to worry about Bizarro-Mike sooner rather than later. 

For the moment, he simply let Sam hold him. 

Everything else could wait.   


End file.
